


Another Life, Another Time

by BlossomingDia



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2, Super Dangan Ronpa 2.5
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Beaches, Breakfast, Death, Dementia, Friendship/Love, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mentions of Cancer, Neo World Program (Dangan Ronpa), Not Really Character Death, Pain, Sick Komaeda Nagito, Suffering Komaeda Nagito, Terminal Illnesses, Wish Fulfillment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26241076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlossomingDia/pseuds/BlossomingDia
Summary: Nagito Komaeda lives out his last day with Hinata by his side and an uninvited guest lingering.Another take on Komaeda's reality he built after dying in the Neo World Program.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime & Komaeda Nagito, Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito, Kamukura Izuru & Komaeda Nagito
Comments: 1
Kudos: 84





	Another Life, Another Time

Pain rocked his body from the moment that his eyes opened, tossing every cell into a fiery sea of agony that sapped every ounce of strength from his body. Sweat broke out on his brow, beaded along his upper lip as he tried to force his body to move against the riptide, seeking out the device next to the bed with clumsy hands that refused to cooperate. It was like trying to manoeuvre a puppet; each movement feeling clunky and foreign in the haze of pain that clouded his mind. Though one thought remained clear through all of it: his meds. His meds would make it all go away. But with the incredible effort of opening his eyes, finding it seemed impossible.

His hand whacked against something solid in the bed next to him, making it stir. Stretch. Blink its bleary green eyes at him. “What’re you doin’ Nagito?” Sluggishly, he tried to force his mouth to form the words but could barely drag a whisper from his throat around the heaps of stuffing that seemed to be stuck inside of his mouth. “Shit.” Came a loud curse. The blankets were thrown over him as the figure hurried around to his side of the bed and knelt down, fiddling with the little knob on his pain relief until he felt the cool rush of morphine flowing through him again. It took a few moments for the pain to recede just enough for things to clear up a little. He was immediately met with Hinata’s concerned face staring back at him. “Jesus Nagito. Next time you need your meds turned up, just wake me up and tell me instead of putting yourself in even more pain.”

“I know, I’m sorry for being a burden on you so early in the morning…” He mumbled.

“Stop. I’ve told you plenty of times that you’re not a burden. I wouldn’t be here if you were.” They lapsed into silence for a few moments, though neither seemed to mind; Nagito sinking back into his mound of pillows to try and draw his mind away from the steady thrum of discomfort that pulsed across his body. Hinata seemed to be content sitting against edge of the bed, tracing the lines of the white haired man’s palm as it rested against the mattress.

“Hinata?”

“Hm?” 

“Is something wrong?”

Hajime was quiet, not daring to lift his eyes from the motion of his finger tracing Nagito’s palm “I finally had to turn the machine up to the max, and even with that I know you’re still uncomfortable.”

“You shouldn’t worry about how comfortable I am.”

“How am I supposed to not worry about how comfortable you are? The machine is there to administer the morphine as you need it, and its not helping when its on max-“

“Hajime.” Nagito tried to keep his voice even as he flipped his hand to take Hajime’s “We both knew it was going to come to this point eventually. There’s no use in being upset over something so small.

” 

His reassurances seemed to do little to sooth Hinata’s bad mood, in fact it only seemed to have the opposite effect. Those green eyes narrow, becoming accusatory “How can you be so casual about this?”

“I’ve seen enough people die in the course of my luck, so I’ve never had any doubt that I’d eventually become on of those who perished because of it. Death is kind of an inevitable part of life, so I don’t think there’s any point in being afraid of it.” 

The expression on his face was oddly sombre as he spoke. His eyes were glossy and far away, looking like those of a dead fish as he stared blankly out of the window with a strange resignation that made his skin crawl a little. 

How could he even respond to that? Any attempt to confront Nagito’s attitude would only result in an argument which wasn’t something he wanted to engage with. But comforting him was out of the question as well. After such a long time, he’d grown accustomed to dealing with the man’s sudden mood shifts and ultimately decided to leave the situation alone. “I’m gonna make French toast for breakfast. Try to sleep for a while and I’ll wake you when it’s done.”

With a nod, they parted ways. Without the persistent throb in his body, it was easy for Komaeda to drift off to sleep, losing himself in the reassuring sounds of Hajime working away in the kitchen. All to quickly though, he was being shaken awake. “Sorry it took so long.” Hajime said. He took up a seat on the edge of the bed before beginning to cut up the food into small bites. A glance at the clock told him that half an hour had already passed but still he felt no more rested from his sleep than he had before. “You think you’ll be able to hold the fork?” Flexing his hand slightly, he shook his head. “Alright then, I’ll feed you.”

They worked through the small squares of food slowly, each movement feeling sluggish. When three squares were finished, Hinata finally met resistance to his feeding as Nagito refused to open his mouth for another bite. He tried again with the same result.

With a sigh he set the fork down on the plate, turning a concerned look to him “Nagito, you know you have to eat more to keep your strength up.”

“I know. I just can’t eat anymore and you’re cooking is so delicious that I’d like to be able to keep it down.”

The plate was set on the bedside cabinet with no further protests “Alright. Is there anything you want to do today? Because if not, I thought we could spend the day watching some of those old movies my mom gave you and then I could cook something nice for us and we could have everyone over to eat. You know that they’ve been dying to see you.” A breathy chuckle escaped Komaeda at the phrasing which only served to make Hinata more irritated with him “I guess it would be nice to say a final goodbye to everyone.”

“It’s not going to be a final goodbye-“

“But I have a condition.” The green eyed man’s previous protests died down as he began to listen to his friend’s wish “If we’re going to have everyone over tonight, I want to go out today. To the beach.”

“The beach? Why?”

“I wanna be able to see the sea one last time before I die.”

“Nagito… I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“And why would that be Hajime?”

“You know that you need your pain medication constantly, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy yourself if we went to the beach because without it the pain would end up being so intense that you wouldn’t be able to move.”

Only a shrug was offered in response, and as simply as that, the light that had risen in Nagito’s eyes at the thought of the sea fizzled out again. The guilt of seeing those eyes dull and lifeless was what lead Hajime to bundle him up in blankets before hauling him to a wheelchair and beginning the short walk through the streets until the ground below them gave way to white sands. Nothing about the situation was ideal; a storm brewing on the horizon that pelted them with the first drops of rain as they edged closer to the slate grey wash of the sea. A shiver coursed through Hajime’s body as he settled down onto the sand at his friend’s feet and lay his head against his thigh. An odd calm enveloped them as they watched the rise and fall of the waves crashing before them – rising, swelling, crashing and fizzling out into nothingness in one continuous loop as Nagito’s hand stroked gently over his hair. Something about it all was familiar.

“Hey Nagito. Do you remember when we first met?”

The memory was blank inside of his mind, as many others had become since his condition had begun to decline all those months ago, but in the interest of hearing Hinata’s soothing tone, he gave a little hum. A strange chill seemed to set into his bones as he stared out into the boundless sea, searching it for answers as to why this all felt so familiar to him. The sea. The sand. The trees dotted along the back of the shoreline. The figure that stood a short distance away, clad in black, just watching him. He did a double take at the sight of him. Some part of his weary mind wondered if he was just a figment of his imagination, manifestation of the dying cinders of his mind, but as he watched the familiar man watching him in return he knew that something else was afoot. The figure crept closer with every droop of his eyelids, standing barely an arms width away by the time that Hinata noticed him. “Who are you?” He demanded.

Nagito breathed a faint chuckle, fighting against the sudden tiredness to offer a last reassurance “You don’t have to worry Hajime. He’s come for me.”

“What-“

“He’s been following at an arm’s length for weeks, just in the corner of my eye, but always walking towards us no matter where we went. He’s here to take me away.” 

The man in black remained silent as Hajime’s eyes flitted between him and his friend desperately. A new kind of weariness seemed to set in his the man’s presence and with a smile Nagito finally let his eyes slip closed not caring to stay awake to hear the last few desperate words that the brunette tried to tell him as he slipped into darkness. 

“Some things are better left unsaid,” a bored voice informed him “After all, why waste time hearing things you already know.”

Heterochromatic eyes stood out against the stark whiteness of their surroundings “And I suppose you’re here to take me to where ever I’m going next?”

“Yes.”

“Give me a hint, would that be heaven or hell?”

The heterochromatic man stared at him blankly for a few seconds before his expression shifted minutely. It would be easy to miss on anyone else, but Hinata was still Hinata to him no matter what form he took. “How mundane. I never expected you to be one to believe in such fragile beliefs.”

“They’re two sides of the same coin are they not? Hope and despair. Heaven and Hell. They’re the same thing ultimately.” 

“I suppose.”

“So give me a hint Hajime – or do you prefer Kamukura? – what lies ahead of me now? If I go with you will you be leading me into heaven or hell?”

“Well if your idea of heaven was dying a quick uneventful death, then I suppose it would be hell. But I think things are much more interesting than that, and if you deal yourself back into the game then it might just become more interesting. Whether you think that is heaven or hell is up to you to decide.”

They lapsed into silence for a few minutes. The quiet of the void was oddly soothing, nursing all the wounds that gaped in his body as the air passed through them and offered him a chance to try again if he wanted it and before him Kamukura stood waiting. Heaven. Or hell. The decision was his. With a final smile he held his arms out, watching as Kamukura’s hand rose up to point at him then pulled the trigger back – letting the darkness slam into him at full force. Nagito Komaeda fell through the darkness with a strange excitement for what lay waiting on the other side.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! 
> 
> This is super late, and also super ambiguous in meaning bc you could read Hinata and Komaeda's relationship in any way you want it to be and you can read Nagito's final thoughts to be a little ambiguous too. Though given that, I really like how this turned out!
> 
> I have a little announcement to make which is that there isn't going to be a fic tomorrow on account of the fact that I need to take a day off to recoup after bursting my eardrum. I hope you'll understand that, and be assured I'll be back to resume on Thursday with another BNHA fic called 'Bittersweet Valentine'. The rest of these fics will go ahead as planned, but it'll just be pushed back by one day to I can have a chance to recover slightly.
> 
> On that note, thank you for reading and see you on thursday!


End file.
